root canal treatment

A question about : root canal treatment

I've had an infection in one of my teeth which hasn't cleared up after antibiotics so I now have to have root canal work on said tooth. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this done and if it was painful?? Also how long did it take??

Thanks

fran

Best answers:

• I have had this done a couple of times. I did not find it painful at all. My dentist is very good though.
• I have had it done too. It wasn't painful- it took nearly an hour.
  Paying for it was the painful part!
• It just takes longer and you might have to go back a couple of times ... the worst thing is the length of time sat there! Don't worry about pain as the nerve is usually (always?) dead when they are doing that. (I think... wish I hadn't written that now, perhaps a dentist will post! :rolleyes: )
• I had this done at the Eastman Dental Hospital some years ago - I kept getting abcesses on my gum, and X-rays showed that a former dentist of mine from a decade before had broken off the tips of two dental instruments in there and then just filled over the top.
  They asked to use me in their research; I had 4 visits. They fixed some kind of plastic spreader in my mouth to keep it wide open, injected very effective painkillers (the only thing I felt was the needle going into my gum), and hooked me up to a Walkman; I dozed through most of it to the sound of soothing music. They ground out the inside part of my tooth, removed the metallic bits, washed it all out, repacked it and sent me off back to my own dentist to get a crown. No problems at all.
• I had an absess on a tooth which they tried antibiotics with. They didnt work so I had root canal work. It didnt hurt. The most painful part was the injections. Your mouth is numb for ages afterwards. Then I had to go back for a second treatment as the absess came back (the pain of that is on a par with having a baby). Then one day I was eating a wine gum and I felt a crack in my mouth. It was the tooth which had broken off due to how much gouging out it had had. Now theres no tooth there at all.
• I have had it done with no pain after (and boy im a wimp) and no problems after either
  Welcome to the boards Tony
• I'll just say I now need a general anesthetic to let them come near my teeth!!!!
• I half agree with everyone else here! I've had this done on 2 teeth and it is true that the work itself doesn't hurt, the injections were painful as I had to have them in the roof of my mouth (it was the 2 front teeth that were being treated - about 2 years apart and with different dentists) but I looked like I'd had a fight the next day - face was swollen and there was bruising too and the stitches in the gum were sore for several days and like everyone else having to pay for it was no picnic either! Good luck!
• It doesn't hurt whilst the work is being carried out, and if it does ask your dentist to top up the local anaesthetic. As others have said, it's longwinded but worth it.
  Some people are able to cope with pain more easily than others - Black Saturn compared the pain of an abscess to the pain of childbirth, but other people won't experience this level of pain with an abscess, although they're not nice. Most dentists will spray the site of the injection of LA with a numbing spray (most often used with children) if the patient asks them to. This means the paitient doesn't even feel the discomfort of the hypo needle. Ibruprofen or paracetamol for any soreness or discomfort after the LA has worn off usually helps. Good luck
• I've had it done 3 times, the last one being last week.
  This last time I didn't even know he was doing it. Just popped in (again) for him to have a look at troublesome tooth that just wouldn't settle. He drills, puts things in my mouth, takes them out.
  Thought he was being a long time. One hour later he announces that he has given me a root filling
  Only charged me Ј50 as well (he's private) as he hadn't given me any notice. Oh, injection never hurts when he does it. Hurts like crazy when the other dentist does.
  The only thing I would say is that though it's painfree, it is uncomfortable holding the mouth open for this long. You really need something to keep your mind off it. Mp3 player or something similar?
  I only wish I had a dislocatable jaw it would make the whole process much easier for dentist and I.
• It hurt when i had mine done! My nerve wasnt dead or dying though. I broke my (very healthy) front tooth in a car accident. When the dentist was digging around to get the nerve out I wanted to cry...mind you the dentist was leaning on my fractured cheek bone as he worked so that added to my misery.
  The actual root filling didnt hurt but it took about 4 hours in total. Maybe my dentist was a sadist!
• Thanks guys for your posts!!
  My nerve isn't dead or dying (not yet anyway). I had a filling in it and it was fine for about a week then I started having the most excrutiating pains in my jaw. I don't cope with certain types of pain very well (any pain to do with bones in fact!). I hate needles but actually don't mind the injections in my gums.
  My dentist is like a well oiled machine......you're in and out in record time. He said to me that if the infection didn't go away with the antibiotics (it's a bit better but still there) I should ring back for a 30 minute appointment. Is half an hour long enough to remove a filling and do root canal work??
• hi fran, if your having those severe pains its because the nerve under the filling is dying off...The inflammation in the tooth's pulp causes the pain...
  And time taken to do rct depends on where the tooth is in your mouth, the further back the harder as a rough guide..
  half an hour is probably long enough to do the first stage but you'll need to go back at least once more..... unless your dentist is oober-fast and the tooth is suitable to be finished in one visit
• No problemo...
  Hope it clears up b4 your exams anyway!!
  As i said earlier no RCT can be guaranteed to be successful, but it should be fine. I'm probably just a negative sort, but i always warn my patients that they could have problems with them...
• I'll probably have a look on t'internet befoer hand anyway to givemyself an idea of what will happen.....